IRVING, Texas – Earlier in the week ESPN.com assembled reporters from NFL Nation and NFL Insiders to discuss the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award.

The focus was on Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, J.J. Watt and, yes, Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray.

Packers NFL Nation reporter Rob Demovsky gave this assessment of Murray’s chances:

He absolutely should be on the list, and around the midseason point he probably was considered one of the front runners. That has waned a little since then. Running backs are underappreciated in the league today, but he's truly special regardless of whether he's playing now or whether he played when MVP runners such as Thurman Thomas, Emmitt Smith and Terrell Davis were in the game.

Murray is fighting history a bit and the fact that the NFL is a quarterback-driven league.

Tony Romo’s name did not come up in the discussion. They were focused on these five candidates, but I’ve mentioned before how Romo should be in the discussion for MVP.

Even with Murray expected to play Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts less than a week after undergoing hand surgery, he just can’t be the same runner, can he? Will the Cowboys give him the ball 30 times? I can’t see it happening.

So, to me, that puts more on Romo and will help his MVP case if the Cowboys beat the Colts. If Romo delivers wins and big performances in the final two games, he has to insert himself into the conversation. The preseason expectations for the Cowboys were as low as they have been since the early 2000s when they were putting up three straight 5-11 records. Romo's numbers are terrific, but it is not just the stats. It's how he is doing it and when he is doing it.

On Thursday, owner and general manager Jerry Jones was asked if this has been Romo’s best season. He didn’t want to go there. Yet.

“I don’t want to say that, because we’re not through,” Jones said. “But it has the potential to be his best season. I guess the factor that would impact the most in my mind would be if we do have the kind of season that we’re all dreaming about here, then it would be his best. Of course, he’s played well at the position. He’s played well as a quarterback, all of his percentages are certainly qualified to be one of his best. The way he’s doing it is really getting, and should get, a lot of weight as to comparing his seasons. But we’d all say let’s see how many wins we’ve got, and let’s see what the wins get for us.”